From communication to valuation: How transparency builds stronger service businesses
In commercial service industries like fire and life safety or mechanical, growth isn’t a mystery—it’s a system: serve better, keep more customers, grow recurring revenue, and scale without adding unnecessary overhead. The contractors winning today aren’t just working harder. They’re using transparency as a competitive weapon—turning self-service and timely communication into higher retention, steady revenue, […]
Break through and scale faster: Why DWC25 is a must-attend event for commercial service contractors
Every year, ServiceTrade hosts the Digital Wrap Conference, our signature event designed specifically to empower commercial service contractors. This year, DWC25, happening November 4-6, 2025, at the beautiful Wild Dunes Resort in Isle of Palms, South Carolina, promises to be our most impactful yet. Why should you attend? Because today’s commercial service industry is changing […]
Leveraging TechNOLOGY for business growth in fire protection
Billy Marshall explores how Fire Protection contractors can boost growth and productivity with technology in this recording of Off the Record with Paul Giannamore filmed at the NFPA Conference.Billy Marshall, founder of ServiceTrade, understands the business of commercial service for fire protection equipment, which is why he founded Service Trade—a platform designed to help contractors streamline inspections, technician […]
5 moves smart contractors are making to thrive in a volatile market
Commercial contractors are facing one of the most unpredictable economic landscapes in decades—tight labor, rising costs, interest rate shocks, and wavering capital spending. It’s easy to feel stuck. But top performers aren’t just weathering the storm—they’re growing.At ServiceTrade, we monitor these industry trends and we see what’s working. The best contractors are doubling down on […]
How to grow your service contracting revenue 23.4% year over year
On average, commercial service contractors who use ServiceTrade grow their invoice revenue by 23.4% year over year. All you have to do is buy ServiceTrade and you’ll grow! Our work here is done. The end. If only it were that simple. There is a big difference between the best and worst performers. For example, contractors […]
The economic downturn is coming. Are you ready for greedy growth?
Trade wars have sent steel prices up twenty five percent and farmers are getting killed by the collapse of the agricultural commodities market. Job growth slowed to a paltry 75,000 in May, and the two prior months of April and March were revised downward by 75,000. The European Central Bank is already easing monetary policy […]
Service contractors: Grow like a software startup
Every Sunday evening I receive an email from the software investment banking team at Key Bank Capital Markets. The subject line of the email is “Software Valuations,” and the email contains a link to a weekly report that details the valuation metrics of about 100 different software companies. All of these companies are public corporations, […]
Good is not good enough
Amazon does not settle for “good” in the realm of customer service. It is not enough for the customer to simply get what they paid to receive. Amazon wants customers to enjoy the experience in the same manner as a guest might enjoy a good party. Great brands now want to copy Amazon because Jeff […]
Consistent results are worth billions, part 2
Read part 1: Fraud Doesn’t Pay, But Consistent Results are Worth Billions One day you will want to have some outsider set a value for your business as part of an exit strategy or for the purpose of passing the business to a new generation. What management metrics will you use to guide your efforts […]
Fraud Doesn’t pay, but consistent results are worth billions
Bernie Madoff was arrested in 2008 for running what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Over a period of more than twenty years, Madoff had convinced wealthy, high profile private clients like Steven Spielberg and the Wilpon family (owners of the New York Mets) along with sophisticated commercial clients like MassMutual, Banco […]